Former NHRA Pro Stock runner turned Pro Street racer Tony Christian,
“The King of Pro Street”, is racing a
Reher-Morrison powered ’02 Grand Am at the Orlando Real World Street
Nationals in Orlando, Fla., after taking a short hiatus from
the event the last few years. He has made his presence felt this
weekend with arguably the best performing car in the front half of the
track, recording a 1.00 sixty-foot and going 2.77 to the 330 in his
last pass. He hit the traps with a 6.452 at 216.58 MPH on that run, but
that’s where the fun ended.

Christian hit the chutes, but had no help stopping as both chutes
failed. A driver with any less experience than the Pro Street pioneer
would have surely barrel rolled the car, but Christian was able to
bring the car to a stop without hitting anything but the grass.

Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher said his chances of driving a Funny Car in 2009 are incredibly slim.

His tuner Alan Johnson said he’s not going to drive his own Top Fuel dragster next season.

Nothing kills the silly season banter like the facts.

“The chances are very slim,” Schumacher said, rating his chances of
switching nitro classes in 2009. “It’s a legitimate question and a
legitimate decision. I’ve thought about it and as interesting as it is,
there’s so much more to it.

“I’m a dragster driver right now. We’ve set some records and we have a
new crew and crew chief coming in and I see that as a challenge. The
Army expects to win and we are out here doing our job. To tell them we
are going to have a learning curve year after the season we’ve had, I
don’t think that’s fair.”

Jeg Coughlin Jr. apparently has no problem with a bull's-eye on his back as the current NHRA Pro Stock points leader held on to
the top spot after final qualifying for eliminations at the 8th annual
ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway.  Coughlin drove the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a track-record
elapsed time of 6.703 seconds at 205.47 mph for his third No. 1
qualifier of the season and the 15th of his career.

Tony Schumacher pocketed his sixth career NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world championship on Saturday after qualifying number one for tomorrow’s ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

While Schumacher came into the weekend having only to make the 16-car
field to capture his fifth consecutive crown, he went on to take his
eighth pole of the season and the 55th of his career.

“That’s the way the U.S. Army team does things,” said the Chicago-area
resident. “We wanted to get the pole and win the championship in the
proper way. We didn’t want to merely slide into the bottom half of the
order. Now, we can go out and celebrate a little bit.”

Alliance Will Put Current GM Driver In Ford Funny Car in 2009 …

The Ford Funny Car fraternity just increased by one.

Current Funny Car point leader Tim Wilkerson and Ford icon Bob Tasca
III announced an alliance for the 2009 season and beyond. The two teams
will merge their resources while maintaining their unique identities.

As part of the deal, Wilkerson will leave the GM operation and campaign a Ford-bodied entry in 2009.

Wilkerson will continue to campaign the Levi, Ray and Shoup backing on his new Ford Mustang.

“This is an exciting time for us,” Wilkerson said. “With the state of
this economy, I am encouraged that anyone would want to be involved in
drag racing. That makes me feel good.”

Chris Simmons of BME Photography captured the essence of the Orlando
World Street Nationals with a collection of carnage from Friday's
qualifying,

Our same day coverage can be accessed at ORLANDO SAME DAY

This unlucky racer suffered a collapsed front-end just as he
deployed the parachutes on his Mustang. The team vows to return on Saturday.

John Force came to the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals sporting the best costume of all. He

was dressed like a former NHRA Funny Car world champion and at the end of the day, he performed like one.

Force drove his way to the provisional No. 1 spot with a 4.062 elapsed time at 307.37 miles per hour.

A man who this time last year could only stand for a limited amount of
time with the help of a walker took the stairs to the second floor
press room.

Pro Stock leader Jeg Coughlin Jr. let the persistent pack of racers trying to track him down in the championship
points know they better be ready for a fight by running the two
quickest passes of Friday's action, including a Las Vegas Motor
Speedway track record 6.703-second run at 205.47 mph.

Coughlin opened with a 6.706 at 205.29 mph, which put him well ahead of
his peers. He then returned in the evening session and uncorked his
record run after several top guns took their best shots at him and his
JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt.

All Tony Schumacher needed to do in order to clinch a sixth NHRA Top Fuel world championship was to qualify at the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals.
Friday evening he left little room for error as he thundered to the top
spot with a 3.781 elapsed time at 316.60 miles per hour.

“After Antron [Brown] went out and ran that 3.81, I told the Sergeant
Major of the Army who was here that the car was either going to smoke
the tires or run really fast,” Schumacher said. “The car went out there
and it shook and then went into warp speed. I think it burned a few
pistons because it stopped pulling at the finish line.”

Had Angelle Sampey known a cheerleader outfit would factor into vaulting her to the top of the qualifying list she might have donned the Halloween outfit back in March.

Sampey, who described Halloween as her second favorite holiday next to
Christmas, rode her way to her first provisional No. 1 qualifying of
the season and first on a Buell during the NHRA ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals. If her track record 6.993 elapsed time
holds, she’ll collect her 45th career low qualifying effort.

It just so happens Sampey deems the fall Vegas event as her favorite
stop on the tour. The Pro Stock Motorcycles only run the second Vegas
event.